US pride and top title at stake as Byrd flies east to face Klitschko

Friday 21 April 2006 21.20 EDT
First published on Friday 21 April 2006 21.20 EDT

Chris Byrd holds the heavyweight reputation of the United States in his hands tonight when he puts his International Boxing Federation title on the line against Wladimir Klitschko in Mannheim.

The end of the Michigan man's low-key four-year reign would leave the division's traditional dominant force with only one of the four major titles. It would continue the power shift to the former Soviet Bloc with Russia's Nicolai Valuev the World Boxing Association champion and Sergey Liakhovich of Belarus beating Byrd's cousin Lamon Brewster for the World Boxing Organisation crown this month.

With the Kazakh Oleg Maskaev next up to challenge the World Boxing Council champion Hasim Rahman, the embarrassment of a nation which brought the sport all but five of the 28 recognised champions from John L Sullivan to Mike Tyson could soon be complete.

"For a long time Americans dominated in the heavyweight division but everybody is getting better and we have to step our game up," Byrd said. "But if you have the better skills, regardless of where you are from, you are going to win."

The slippery 35-year-old southpaw has found work hard to come by, which may be one reason why he is fighting on the home ground of a man who beat him in their previous meeting in April 2000. Having knocked Byrd to the canvas twice on his way to a conclusive victory, Klitschko seemed destined to go on and fulfil his enormous potential. Instead, subsequent stoppage defeats by the South African veteran Corrie Sanders and Brewster threatened to end Klitschko's title fighting career before it had really begun.

It is a sign of how weak the division has become that despite their chequered recent histories, any conclusive winner tonight will deserve their status as the No1 heavyweight in the world.

Byrd, one year after losing to Klitschko, beat Evander Holyfield for the vacant IBF title and has held it since. Yesterday he brushed off fears that fighting in Germany, where there have been many controversial decisions in favour of home-based boxers, could be a problem. After losing in 2000, Byrd, who has a record of 39-2-1 with 20 knockouts, vowed never to set foot in Germany again.

"Some people think I'm crazy to box in Germany, but I'm feeling very strong," he said."I'm five years wiser but he's just five years older."

Klitschko, who has a 45-3 record with 40 knockouts, earned his second chance in boxing after beating the unbeaten Sam Peter on points in September last year. "After those defeats, I lost the respect of my opponents and it's a long, hard journey to get that respect back," said the Ukrainian-born boxer. "When I was [WBO] champion and defending my title I got a feeling that a lot of my opponents had a lot of respect for me, but not since I lost.

"There are many question marks: no stamina, no bulk, dead man, broken man, whatever. I do my job and I know I belong. To get the respect back I have to go all the way. The only way to show how good I am again is in the ring."

For Klitschko, whose older brother Vitali, a former WBC champion, retired last year, a defeat by Byrd could be the end of his career. "I'm not thinking about that," he said. "I'm going to win. I've gone through a lot of valleys in my career and have learned a lot. I feel I'm better than I've ever been."